Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Strategy for Changing the US... Take 1

I wrote most of this about a month ago, and was going to add more, but life became really busy, so I decided to publish this as is, since it has been a month an a half since I wrote something.

The question in front of us is not naming the system, or even understanding it, but figuring out how to rebuild it and our society to reflect our highest vision. The people exist to do it. The resources exist to do it. The motivation exists to do it. The only reason it has not happened is because we don't agree on how to do it and we are not organized enough to implement it. We need to understand
This is my first try at setting down a skeletal strategy to restructure our entire society to make it more human, democratic, sustainable, and a generally affirming way of life. This strategy is still in bits and pieces at this point, but I think there is some worth in writing it down so i dont forget.
1. Create local democratic structures. Not sure what these will look specifically, but I imagine them as General Assemblies for non-administrative decision-making, with working groups (open to everyone) to execute tasks. If working groups become too large (What a problem that would be! Too much participation, is it possible?), then they can be split into several working groups that coordinate activity. The judicial system would stop being punitive, and become a rehabilitating presence. It would consist of a system where people would share their grievances and perspectives with each other, as well as consensus-based sentencing.
This really needs further study and experimentation in my opinion, hopefully with some resources behind this endeavor.

2. Non-violent Army. Just a really cool idea that has been stuck in my head for a few years now. They would have the discipline and cohesion of a regular army, minus the extreme hierarchy and violence. They would put their lives on the line for others, just like violent army soldiers and they would be extensively trained in conflict resolution, non-violent tactics and strategy, as well as human behavior. The non-violent army would be trained to confront violent forces as well as other non-violent forces. They would go on campaigns against various injustices across the country, mobilizing thousands. Again, resources are the key problem, as well as research into how to do it. The know-how is extremely important. Hopefully we will be able to create the equivalent of army manuals for the nv army.

3. Parallel Structures. With some local democratic institutions in place, these towns and counties could start forming parallel structures to state and federal governments. These would do everything that an organization composed of the entire community should do, including provide social services (police, hospitals, firefighters, general social support, protection and help)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

A Lesson from History, for My Beloved sds.

One quick thought, which I had while reading historical analysis of the 60s.
There was a huge upsurge in sds recruitment in the post election time period between 1968 and 1971. While this may be attributed to the media attention that the DNC protest of 68 garnered, I think there is another reason that is more plausible. The 1968 election was the population's chance to change the direction of the country. Many people who saw the millions crying out against the war would first try the typical method for changing the direction. When this failed, they would become more cynical about its viability, and look for other methods to change things. Plus none of the standard methods for the rank and file citizenry can change policy (i.e. voting) were coming up soon after the 68 election. So people naturally looked for alternatives, since they tried voting and that didnt work. They saw sds and the new left. While many of them may not have been happy with the yucky sectarianism and negative feelings floating around sds at that time, they were the only game in town. And so, tens of thousands joined.

I am afraid for the future of sds. If whoever is elected fails to end the war (and my cynical side tells me they probably will), then the new sds will be swamped by new recruits, more than we can handle. So, I think our task in the coming year needs to be building the institutional capacity to absorb and teach all these new recruits. And that is one overwhelming task.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Bee Wars 3, The Revenge of the Sarcophagus

I woke up this morn, and to my eyes, what did appear? Why, a colony of bees uncovered, oh dear!
No longer the Sarcophagus covered, my dearest bee friends, who could hover.
The tub was overturned, was lifting a skill the bees had learned?
No, twas a neighbor who free the bees, man I wish I had my teas.
But, hark, what beist this? The bees had meet the death of kiss.
In piles upon piles they lay, lifeless and cold, in May.
Yes, they no longer menace my yard, but it is unfortunate that they are so marred.
Now the ants have a field day, fiesting upon the corpses of their insect brethren where they lay.
Hundred upon hundred lay still, in a tub shaped depression that I will fill.
A sultry grave for a colony, just like that guy Ptolemy.

That poem-esque rambling is in memory of the colony of bees whose genocide I had a hand in. I do feel guilty that I had to dispatch them, but they had sharp ends on their butts that made me scared to walk to my door. And the hovering... oh the hovering. So unpleasant.

In other news, my sublet is up in two weeks, and I still don't have a place to live after that. But, I am hopeful. Worst case scenario, I would have to spend a couple weeks with my brother.

Here is some food for thought for the estimated 4 of you who read this:
Gandhi's 7 Social Sins
Politics without Principle
Wealth without Work
Commerce without Morality
Pleasure without Conscience
Education without Character
Science without Humanity
Worship without Sacrafice

to that I would add these two:
Work without Community
Priorities without People

Priorities without people, is my way of saying that our priorities should always be each other.
So why do I feel guilty about the bees? I was placing the safety of my neighbor and myself over the lives of those bees, placing people at the top of my priority list. Well, maybe a simple saying like the one I wrote above does not take in the whole complexity of the world. I wish there had been a way where they could have lived.
I can even get a ends and means lesson out of this one. The end may be that the bees are no longer a menace. That was my primary goal. But the means we used produced unwanted consequences... feelings of guilt, regret and sadness. A smelly pile of dead bees covered in ants. On the macro level, fewer honey bees to pollenate the plants that make the food we eat. All this stems from the wrong means. I don't know what the right means would have been... maybe contacting a nearby bee farm and trying to sell the bees to them, or atleast get them to cart them away. Yes, that would have been a better outcome. Maybe if I had put in alittle more effort this sad outcome would not have happened. Yet another life lesson from my banal existence. (Footnote: I learned the word "banal" during SAT prep. Well, it might not have been entirely useless. It allowed me to use overly educated language on a low-traffic blog. Yay!)

Monday, May 12, 2008

Of Bees and Trickery Part 2

The bees appear to have taken up permanent residency in my backyard. So, not unlike the unlucky people of Chernobyl, we have put a sarcophagus over our problems.

But maybe I should start where I last left off. After my attempts to convince them to leave through pouring water on them, I tried a something different. One morning, I put a half-full jar of water out near the hive, with alittle honey in it as bait. The idea is that they fly in to get the honey and get stuck in the water, and die. Well, I tricked 6 bees... so at that point it was 6 down, 400+ to go.
The next day I noticed someone had put a plastic tub on top of the bees. The tub was, however, not a perfect fit with the ground. Bees still came out from underneath the sides where the ground was uneven. I found out that evening that it was my upstairs neighbor, Nathan. So, I hosed the bees down, which tricked all but 2 of them into landing, and proceeded to cover the edges of the tub with dirt, to fully sarcophagize the bees and prevent them from flying around the yard.

So far it has worked. The bees are not smart enough to dig themselves out, but they are still in there. I can hear them buzzing. Just waiting for a chance to burst forth from their sarcophagus as mummy bees. The problem has been put in a box, literally, and left to fester or disappear, whatever the case may be. But I doubt I will be here to see it. I move out of here in a few weeks, and I doubt that the bee situation will change. Although, I bet that I could sell those bees for a pretty good price, considering how honey bees are disappearing across the nation. It only figures that they would reappear in my yard.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Of Bees and Trickery

There is a bee hive in my back yard. It is just sitting on the ground minding its own business. The bees are in one large cluster that seems to move periodically from one spot of the yard to another. They appeared here today, and I have no idea where they came from. I wonder if this is what happens to those bees that are disappearing across the country... they just up and decide to leave, to become nomadic bees. Well, I wish they would migrate away from my yard. They are wholely less welcome than the usual visitor to my yard who I affectionately refer to as, "the cat." The last short-term visitor to my backyard was a cluster of birthday balloons which probably floated away from some kid. I gave those balloon's to Dan's friend Dan. I wish I could do the same with these bees.

I did learn something about bees though. If you try to convince them to leave by tossing water out the window at them, they are both not convinced to leave, and tricked into thinking it is raining. So now I know how to fool bees, check off that item on the things I wanted to figure out in my life. Right now the bees are crawling on the ground, not flying, because they think it is raining. I suppose this means that they are that much less likely to get up and fly away. Lesson learned, water does not convince bees to leave. But, if I ever need to walk through a mess of flying bees, I know to spray them down with water to trick them into landing.

Patrick, I know you aren't reading this, but that info will save your life one day.

I really love not having a TV. I can watch all the important shows on my laptop thanks to the wonders of the internet, and I am not tempted by the prospect of turning it on and listening to it. I have music for that, no need to have the TV on. And I am infinitely more productive when I don't have a TV, which makes me feel better.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Update

Well, I totally flacked out on blogging in April, so I decided to pump out two posts tonight. The last one was catalyzed by watching Gandhi the movie. Such a good movie.
I have been doing pretty well. California is treating me very well. I have a good and meaningful job. And I am going to soon acquire a semi-permanent place to live, with Dan and Bucky. Hopefully we will have gotten an apartment within the next 3 weeks. The few places we have looked at have all seemed fairly good. We are mostly looking in El Cerrito which is a few train stops north of Berkeley. It has entire houses up for rent, and the appeal of having an entire house is very alluring.
In other news, I wish I had more time to read, and more motivation to take the time out of my busy schedule to do it. I have so many good looking books on my shelves.

Overall, I have been coming to a general conclusion about a trajectory for my life. I think getting a law degree with greatly advance my ability to produce positive change in this world. Not because I want to be an attorney, but because it would give me a comprehensive understanding of the legal system.

The Way Out of Madness

I believe it was Martin Luther King who said "The curve of the universe is toward Justice." and Gandhi who told us to look back at history when we despair and see how "the way of truth and love has always won" in the end. Indeed, Love is the foundation of human society, so how it be any other way.

It is utter madness to me, all the violence and hatred that is infecting us. A pandemic of Madness on a scale that has scarce been seen in the annuals of human existence. But the cure does exist. In all its many forms, it has existed since the beginning. However unrefined it may be at this point in history, it has caused the collapse of empires and the restructuring of societies. Always has this cure been based on love, never on hate or apathy. This cure has been wielded by the greats of history to make their worlds better. The Plebeians of Athens used it to bring greater equality to their city. Jesus wielded it against the Romans and the corrupted officials of his land. Buddha used it against the corruption he saw in his own society. Gandhi used it in India, MLK used it in America.
The way out of Madness, the cure to the sickness of hatred is to embrace the love that all human organization and life is built upon. Understanding why this is, is the quintessential necessity behind vaccinating future generations against the diseases of the soul that our world is experiencing.

The way out of Madness is not just an idealistic approach, it is entirely practical. Humans are hard-wired to love, to want to be together, and to live for each other. This is the reason that isolation is a universal punishment across human societies.
Many will throw out examples of people who fail to live up to this ideal, i.e. misanthropes, psychopaths, etc. Unfortunately, there are many people who are so damaged by their experiences, so unable to cope with the horrible situations they are in, that they have fallen for false logics which compel them to do yet more damage to themselves and those around them. To heal these we must not ostracize them or isolate them, we must embrace them and show them the love that every human deserves. This is the idea behind rehabilitation prisons, and why punitive prisons consistently fail to prevent crime. The design of human nature makes this an inevitable fact.

The way out of Madness encompasses non-violence, as violence will only enrage and firm up the will of one's opponent. Violence will only drive a wedge between brothers and force them to believe each other to be less than human. Indeed, the way out of Madness is to believe that we are all humans and treat each other with the dignity that all humans deserve.

The full breadth of the way out of Madness is so expansive that it could not be contained within an entire encyclopedia set. But it can be boiled down to its essence, which is The Golden Rule.
Love all as you would have them love you.